


Infinitesimal

by c_curculio



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M, More Tags Will Be Added as the Story Goes On, freehoun - Freeform, i may be cringe but i am free, it's star-trek esque but its half life, neopronouns are sexy and fresh as hell btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27421540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_curculio/pseuds/c_curculio
Summary: In the future (or perhaps the not-so-distant past), Dr. Gordon Freeman is appointed by the U.S. government to go to Xen to study teleportation technology with a group of specialists. Under Captain Wallace Breen, they have many trials to face along their journey- but the journey won't end with their arrival on Xen.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Starting Out

**Author's Note:**

> Peachrot and I have had this AU in the works for a while now, and I'm glad to be able to share it with all of you. This fic wouldn't be possible without them, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for being the absolute legend that they are. There are a few things to explain right off the bat to make this a bit easier to understand. 
> 
> Gordon, Judith, Barney, and Adrian are not human, however Judith is the only one who doesn't go by a "humanized" version of er name- eir name is Jdaith in this AU. Additionally, many of the alien characters use neopronouns, because there is no way in hell that aliens would have the exact same set of pronouns/gender roles as humans would. I have a carrd in the works that will have links to all the character profiles and so it'll be easier to learn which characters use which pronouns, character trivia, etc. I will also be including a little blurb in the notes at the end of each chapter to give a bit more insight into the worldbuilding that went into this. 
> 
> For now, enjoy!

10-3-20XX  
06:45

[I’m here to pick up the rations order for B.M.S. Lambda 140905.] 

The guard peered at the ID card they held out, punching in a few numbers and giving a nod when Gordon’s profile showed up on his screen. “You’re good to go. Clearance granted.” Leaning into a mic, they mumbled, “Clearance granted to 140905-NH111998.” 

They stepped into the warehouse, glancing around nervously. This was their first time on a planet other than Earth, and they hadn’t really gotten much of a chance to see anything outside the docking area, but a chance to stretch their legs was very welcome. The building was bustling with activity, and as they scanned the area, an attendant appeared from their right shoulder. “You here from the Lambda? Follow me, your stuff is this way.” Before they could respond, the attendant was off, and Gordon had no choice but to follow along behind him. 

“Damn, I hope this doesn’t sound weird, but aren’t Nahaeth a lot shorter?” He glanced at them briefly as they passed by a set of tables; huddled around it, a bunch of mechanics seemed to be pondering part of an engine, while what appeared to be a ship’s mechanic wrung their hands anxiously. 

Gordon nodded, tearing their eyes away from yet another distraction. [My mother was human.] The attendant nodded at that, continuing to chatter excitedly as he led Gordon towards the resupply area. He came to a stop near a stack of cardboard boxes. 

“Let’s see…” The attendant whipped out a tablet from one of their pockets. “Two weeks rations for four Humans, one Nahaeth, one Phirlon, one Ulith, and one Stresu. One set of Human rations is dairy free, Phirlon rations include an extra two day’s worth of food, and iron supplements are included with the Stresu rations…” he rattled off. “We sent someone out to top off your water supply. It’s been a month since you’ve departed, yes?” When Gordon nodded, he quickly typed something out on the screen. “Alright, I’ll get our guy to check up on the filtration system… And you’re good to go!”

Ten minutes later, Gordon slumped down on the chair in their quarters with a sigh. _I thought that getting off the ship and talking to someone would be good for me… Now I’m just even more tired_. They pulled off their glasses and absentmindedly wiped them on the corner of their lab coat. _What else do I have to do? I don’t know if there’s anywhere I could go on a nice walk alone_ … When they lifted their glasses back up to their face, they jumped, seeing a figure in the doorway. 

“Heya, Gordon. Did they have my extra rations? Oh, uh, didn’t mean to startle ya there.” Barney smiled bashfully, and Gordon noticed for the first time that xe had dimples. “I was wonderin’ cause last time they forgot.” Despite the careful pronunciation, a slight accent slipped through, and Gordon couldn’t help but smile. 

[They told me they had it, but I never got an opportunity to check the boxes.] They stood, ducking slightly to avoid scraping their horns against the doorframe. [I’m going to check now. Would you like to come help me unload?] 

As they walked, Barney fidgeted with the sleeves of xir shirt and continued xir chattering. “I talked to Breen- the man finally left his office, I was worried he was growin’ mold or something- and he said that if we time it right, we can make it to Rureeal at the same time as a parts shipment. Alyx’ll have a blast with that, though lord knows what she’ll rig the coffee machine to dispense next.” Xe shuddered. “How can people drink sparkling water and like it?”

[If it’s fruit flavored, I can mostly handle it, but I don’t like the aftertaste.]

They paused in front of the door to the supply dock, and Barney held out a fist, pressing a silvery-blue ring against the door sensor. It let out a pleasant chime before opening. The room was lined with shelves, running almost from floor to ceiling, with a protective energy barrier to prevent items from flying around during liftoff or landing. The barriers glowed with a soft blue light, bathing the room in it and giving it a liminal quality. In the center of the room, the cardboard boxes were stacked neatly. 

“After you, doc.” Barney stepped aside, and Gordon nodded as they approached the boxes. They quickly ran a claw down the center line where the two cardboard flaps met, tugging the box open and removing the contents, which they handed off to him. 

Xe accepted the plain white plastic box. “Alright… Erm, here’s Jdaith’s, I think… I dunno, looks like Stresu to me. Do I, uh,” xe looked slightly embarrassed. “Do I give it to em or do I leave it here so ey can pick it up after liftoff?” 

Gordon paused to set down their own rations so they were free to sign. [You can put it on that shelf there. None of it needs to be frozen or refrigerated.] Barney nodded gratefully, and Gordon returned to unpacking. 

“This is your captain speaking.” Breen’s voice echoed through the ship, jerking Gordon awake from their nap. They grumbled a bit as they flopped back down on their bed. “Please report to the main deck for roll call. We don’t want to make a fool of ourselves by leaving anyone behind.” They groaned at that, reluctantly pushing themselves out of bed and stumbling to grab their lab coat. _Hopefully Breen won’t take any offense to me wearing pajamas_. 

They seemed to be the last one there, and judging by the magnificent stink eye Breen had, he wasn’t too happy about Gordon’s attire. _Oh well_. He cleared his throat and began to pace back and forth in front of the control panel as if he were on a stage. “I know we’ve only just begun our journey, but I felt it fit to remind you that our goal- our mission, is of utmost importance to the battle against the Combine empire.

“We may be a lowly scientific vessel, and it will take time to reach Xen, but it will be worth the wait. We here are the very best of the best- Earth’s most intelligent, the bravest, the strongest. As of now, our plans remain unchanged. Once we arrive at Xen, we will remain there for one full planetary rotation- equivalent to roughly five years on Earth. If our predictions are correct, our research could lead to the emancipation of every planet in our sector.” He paused here, eyes passing over the small group of people gathered around him. “For many of you, this is your first time on an expedition such as this. It certainly won’t be easy, but the trials we face today are for the sake of freedom tomorrow.”


	2. Journal Log

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrian updates their journal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe that I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but between main story chapters, I'm going to be including these journal logs to kind of give a bit more insight to what goes on around the ship outside of the main story without straying too far from the plot. They will be a lot shorter than the main chapters, but hopefully that won't bother anyone :)

CPL Adaeren   
Journal Log 4  
10-7-20XX  
20:47

It’s been a few days since we started out journey, but some people are already getting on my nerves. Jdaith spent all of yesterday tailing Alyx around the ship- evidently, ey don’t think she’s qualified as a mechanic because she’s so young, but she knows her way around a machine better than most mechanics I’ve known. She even rigged up the coffee machine to dispense sparkling water after I briefly mentioned that I liked it. I only met her after we had boarded the Lambda, but she's already one of the nicest people that I've met. I doubt I'd be so pissed off if it was a standard ship's mechanic, but Alyx's credentials could land her on any ship in the solar system she wanted to go to. Jdaith needs to realize just how damn lucky ey are to have her on the ship. 

Ey got on my ass earlier about wearing my mask, too. Something about “facial recognition technology” or something like that. Ey are so nitpicky about everything and judging from the 2-3 interactions I’ve witnessed between em and some others on the ship, ey are also incredibly stubborn. I’ve heard rumors that ey have some kind of background working alongside the Combine, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions about someone I just met. That doesn’t mean I’m not keeping my eye on em, though. A potential Combine operative on the ship would be very, very bad for the mission. 

Moving on, I've been talking to Alyx the most out of anyone, and today she told me a bit more about life on Earth. Evidently the Phirlon is her adopted sibling. I don’t want to pry too much, since it’s really none of my business, but I am pretty curious about that whole situation. She can talk about how much of a goofball Barney is for hours, but I doubt xe will ever show that side of xem on the ship. Xe don’t really make eye contact with anyone and xir always peeking around corners and stuff like that. I’ve never met a Phirlon before, so I don’t know if xir just shy by nature, or if xe have some kind of anxiety disorder. Regardless, xe have magical skills in the kitchen. I've never had rations that taste good until xe came along. 

I really haven’t interacted with Humans at all up until this point, and I’m a bit relieved that they aren’t all as bad as Primaca said they’d be. They tended to make Humans sound like horrible, annoying creatures, which I can kind of see, but every Human on board is so damn brilliant that it blows my mind. They were specially selected for their skills, but even knowing that it's hard to not have high expectations. Even Dr. Breen is smart. From a political standpoint he'd be an excellent politician, but that would make me like him even less. 

The Nahaeth, Gordon, is an enigma all on their own. I talked to them a bit and learned that they're only half-Nahaeth, which is why they're so tall. They were raised on Earth by a Human mom, and their father was a Nahaeth who was in the military and went M.I.A. after he got called into active duty. Gordon said he died in combat, but it’s more likely that the poor fucker got turned into a Stalker (I didn't mention that. Nobody likes to think about Stalkers). They’ve never been on Nahaeth, but I don’t think they’re too terribly sad about it. I'm not great at reading sign language but it's nice to just sit and let them sign at me about anime (which is evidently some form of entertainment on Earth) and kats (Kats? Cats? English spelling is hard. They're some kind of small predator native to Earth I think) and physics. 

Signing off for the night now.

**Author's Note:**

> Nahaeth are a species that live on a rocky planet of the same name. It’s nutrient-dense soil and balmy climate are ideal for a wide variety of flora and fauna. The diversity and quantity of recorded land-dwelling invertebrate species on Nahaeth greatly overshadow those of Earth’s. Luckily for the herbivorous Nahaeth population, most of these invertebrates are carnivores, leaving their food supplies safe from most damage.


End file.
